How many here solder their track section together. I have 1 troublesome connection on my EZ Track layout. Thinking about soldering it to improve the connection. Any tips?
Pete
I do not use EZ Tack, but I do solder my track. I solder every other joint, leaving the other loose for expansion purposes. The only trick is to use good flux. If you flux the rails, then slip on a rail joiner the solder will smooth beauticully through the joint. Good luck.
Ron
I have a pictorial explanation at http://community.webshots.com/user/bayouman1 showing how to solder track…click “trains” and go to page 3…click each photo and an explanation will be under each photo…there are 5 or 6 photos showing and describing the different steps in soldering track…chuck[:D]
I do believe that it is actually on page 4[:D] As for my take on soldering track, I use flextraxk and only solder the joints on the curves.
Reed
Place a metal track guage on both sides of the joint you want to solder. This will serve two purposes: 1. They will serve as heat sinks to prevent the heat from traveling down the rail, and 2. If the heat from the soldering tool should travel down to the tie strips, the guages will prevent the rails from shifting out of guage until the rail cools down and the plastic hardens. The area you want to solder should be cleaned with a bright-boy and a resin-core flux should be applied to the joint. Acid-core flux should be avoided to prevent corrosion.
I too only solder on curves, I solder two sections of flex track together BEFORE installing it. This helps avoid kinks when the joints fall on curves, and if you use more than a 22" radius, you can’t HELP but have joints on the curves.
EZ Track can certainly benefit from soldred joints - the joiners seem to be pretty poor, worse than most. I had a test track build up on a 4x8, just an oval of EZ Track,a nd even with 2 sets of feeders, I had power problems. As I am building my actual layout with flextrack, I’ve tested the completed sections by temporarily hooking up ONE set of feeders and have no power problems.
Also, if you have long straight areas, use those long EZ Track pieces instead of a bunch of the regular length straights, the fewer joints the better.
–Randy